Improvement in latches



FUNr'rEn STAT-Es 'PATENT @Errea HENRY n. ELwELL, on soUTH NORWALK, CONNECTICUT.

' IMPROVEMENT IN LATCHES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 46,650, dated March 7, 1865.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY H. ELWELL, of South Norwalk, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Locks, and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is an internal View of a lock having my improvement applied to it; Fig. 2, a horizontal section of the same, taken in the line a: w, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a detached side view of one part of the latch 5 Fig. 4, a detached side view of the other part of the same 3 Fig. 5, a detached side view of the catch or fastening pertaining to the latch, Fig'. 6, an edge view of Fig. 5.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

This invention relates to anew and improved means employed for reversing the slide latch of a lock so that the same may be adjusted to suit either a rightv or left hand door.

The invention consists in the peculiar catch or fastening for connecting the removable with the permanent portion of the latch, and also in the peculiar manner of voperatin g said catch or fastening, whereby several advantages are obtained over other means employed for the same purpose.

A represents the case of a lock; B, the bolt, which is operated by a key as usual. These parts may be of ordinary construction, and therefore do not require a minute description. The slide-latch is composed of two parts, C C', the former, G, being fitted permanently within the case A and actuated from the knobarbor by the ordinary collar a, provided with arms b b, which act against lips c c on prongs t d of the part G. This part C has a longi tudinal slot, e, made in it near its outer end, and a pin on the case A is fitted in said slot to serve as a guide for C, and the latter, near its outer end, is provided with a projection, j', which has a pin, g, projecting laterally from it to receive one end of a spring, D, the opposite end of which bears against a catch or fastening, E, which is fitted on a pin, a', prowhere the prongs d cl spring from it. The

spring D bears against a projection, l1., at the lower end of E, and has a tendency to keep a projection, t', at the upper end of E, in a notch, j, made in the upper edge of the removable or detachable part C of the slide-latch, the inner end of C being notched, as shown at k, to t` on or over the pin a. The part C is notched at both edges, as shown atjj in Fig. 4, so that C may be reversed in position and connected to the part C by F, with the bevel l at the outer end of C adjusted to suit either a right or left hand door.

In order to detach the part C from C all that is required is simply to throw back the upper part of F so that its projection twill be out of the notchj or 7" at the upper edge ofvC, and the latter may be withdrawn from the case 'A and reversed, and again inserted in the case and connected with C by F.

Gr represents a tumbler which performs its usual function with respect to the bolt B, and also performs another function, which is very important-to wit: the operating of the catch or fastening E through the medium of the key, to release the part C of the slide-latch. This result is effected by having the tumbler G so formed as to project upward near the lower end of E, so that when the key is in serted in the lock and turned and the tumbler G moved, the upper end of the latter will come in contact with the lower end of E and actuate the sameso as to release the part C of the side-latch, as indicated in red outline in Fig. 1. The tumbler G is thrown back to its original position, when the key is withdrawn, by a spring, H. By this arrangement it will be seen that no parts of the lock require to be detached or disturbed in order to reverse the part C of the slide-latch, and consequently there are no parts that can be lost or mislaid, as is frequently the case in other devi` es applied to locks to render their latches capable of being reversed, while at the same time the improvement will not augment the cost of construction in an appreciable degree.

I do not confine myself to the precise construction and arrangement ot' the parts herein shown and described, for that may be varied in various ways and the same end attained.

l claim as new and desire to sccureby Letl E by means of the key of the lock through the ters Patentmedium of the tumbler or any other equiva- 1. The employment or use of the catch or lent arrangement, substantially as described. fastening E, fitted on a pin, a', of the part C of the slide-latch, and arranged substantially as shown, to engage With the part C of the latch, for the purpose set forth.

2. The actuating of the catch or fastening HENRY H. ELWE LL.

Witnesses DAVIS HATCH, SAMUEL E. FooTE; 

